“In all
cultures and religions, water has always been
a means of purification and catharsis...
In ancient times, the substructure of Istanbul was an
underground maze, with sacred springs, crypts and wells...
Back then, they used to worship underground waters...
waters with miraculous powers...
Water that springs from the mysterious womb of the earth...
The faithful...who sought for themselves
a miracle, cure, consolation
and hope, sought out these waters...”
“These springs, with the coming of Christianity
as a formal religion during the Byzantine era,
continued to attract the faithful, without interruption...
For the Greeks of Istanbul, especially during difficult times...
these Ayiasmata were springs of both power and protection...
Today, the faithful visitors crowding into these
Ayiasmata everyday.., are predominantly Muslim,
and attendance is even more intense...
when the patron Saint is celebrated on certain days of the year...
Although these places are relatively obscure
and unknown to most of the world,
people of all faiths continue to seek out these miraculous waters...
Today, in Istanbul these Ayiasmata are found below temples,
underground, in the depths of caves and tunnels,
far from tourist sites...”